47 asylum-seeking minors fly to Germany

Forty-seven unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors were relocated from Greece to Germany Saturday.

Germany's interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said the evacuation was "the result of months of preparation and intense talks with our European partners" and expressed hope that other countries would also begin taking in refugee children soon.

The children come from Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea. Four are girls and there are several siblings among the group.

"The Greek government has been trying to sensitize other EU countries to (the plight) of the young children, which have fled war and persecution, to find new families and start a new life. I'm glad this program is finally being implemented," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotsakis told reporters at the Athens airport, where he met the departing children, alongside Germany's Ambassador to Greece, Ernst Reichel.